PRIZMNE Segments
PRIZM NE segments are numbered 01 to 66, based on an overall affluence measure. This is in accord with
MicroVisions’® numbering scheme but is slightly different from what existing PRIZM clients are used to seeing.
PRIZM NE has have lots of segment names that Claritas users will recognize. Upper Crust, Blue Blood Estates,
Movers & Shakers, Winner's Circle, American Classics and Urban Achievers are among the existing segment
names from both MicroVision and PRIZM 62 making a return performance in PRIZM NE.
01 Upper Crust
The nation's most exclusive address, Upper
Crust is the wealthiest lifestyle in Americaa haven for empty-nesting couples over 55
years old. No segment has a higher
concentration of residents earning over
$200,000 a year or possessing a
postgraduate degree. And none has a more
opulent standard of living.
02 Blue Blood Estates
Blue Blood Estates is a family portrait of
suburban wealth, a place of million-dollar
homes and manicured lawns, high-end cars
and exclusive private clubs. The nation's
second-wealthiest lifestyle, it is
characterized by married couples with
children, college degrees, a significant
percentage of Asian Americans and sixfigure incomes earned by business
executives, managers and professionals.
03 Movers & Shakers
Movers & Shakers is home to America's
up-and-coming business class: a wealthy
suburban world of dual-income couples
who are highly educated, typically between
the ages of 35 and 54 and often with
children. Given its high percentage of
executives and white-collar professionals,
there's a decided business bent to this
segment: Movers & Shakers rank numberone for owning a small business and having
a home office.
04 Young Digerati
Young Digerati are the nation's tech-savvy
singles and couples living in fashionable
neighborhoods on the urban fringe.
Affluent, highly educated and ethnically
mixed, Young Digerati communities are
typically filled with trendy apartments and
condos, fitness clubs and clothing
boutiques, casual restaurants and all types
of bars-from juice to coffee to microbrew.
05 Country Squires
The wealthiest residents in exurban
America live in Country Squires, an oasis
for affluent Baby Boomers who've fled the
city for the charms of small-town living. In
their bucolic communities noted for their
recently built homes on sprawling
properties, the families of executives live in
six-figure comfort. Country Squires enjoy
country club sports like golf, tennis and
swimming as well as skiing, boating and
biking.
11 God's Country
06 Winner's Circle
Among the wealthy suburban lifestyles,
Winner's Circle is the youngest, a collection
of mostly 25- to 34-year-old couples with
large families in new-money subdivisions.
Surrounding their homes are the signs of
upscale living: recreational parks, golf
courses and upscale malls. With a median
income of nearly $90,000, Winner's Circle
residents are big spenders who like to
travel, ski, go out to eat, shop at clothing
boutiques and take in a show.
When city dwellers and suburbanites began
moving to the country in the 1970s, God's
Country emerged as the most affluent of the
nation's exurban lifestyles. Today, wealthier
communities exist in the hinterlands, but
God's Country remains a haven for upperincome couples in spacious homes.
Typically college-educated Baby Boomers,
these Americans try to maintain a balanced
lifestyle between high-power jobs and laidback leisure.
12 Brite Lites, Li'l City
07 Money & Brains
The residents of Money & Brains seem to
have it all: high incomes, advanced degrees
and sophisticated tastes to match their
credentials. Many of these citydwellers,
predominantly white with a high
concentration of Asian Americans, are
married couples with few children who live
in fashionable homes on small, manicured
lots.
08 Executive Suites
Not all of the America's chic sophisticates
live in major metros. Brite Lights, Li'l City
is a group of well-off, middle-aged couples
settled in the nation's satellite cities.
Residents of these typical DINK (double
income, no kids) households have college
educations, well-paying business and
professional careers and swank homes filled
with the latest technology.
13 Upward Bound
Executive Suites consists of upper-middleclass singles and couples typically living
just beyond the nation's beltways. Filled
with significant numbers of Asian
Americans and college graduates-both
groups are represented at more than twice
the national average-this segment is a haven
for white-collar professionals drawn to
comfortable homes and apartments within a
manageable commute to downtown jobs,
restaurants and entertainment.
More than any other segment, Upward
Bound appears to be the home of those
legendary Soccer Moms and Dads. In these
small satellite cities, upper-class families
boast dual incomes, college degrees and
new split-levels and colonials. Residents of
Upward Bound tend to be kid-obsessed,
with heavy purchases of computers, action
figures, dolls, board games, bicycles and
camping equipment.
14 New Empty Nests
09 Big Fish, Small Pond
Older, upper-class, college-educated
professionals, the members of Big Fish,
Small Pond are often among the leading
citizens of their small-town communities.
These upscale, empty-nesting couples enjoy
the trappings of success, belonging to
country clubs, maintaining large investment
portfolios and spending freely on computer
technology.
With their grown-up children recently out
of the house, New Empty Nests is
composed of upscale older Americans who
pursue active-and activist-lifestyles. Nearly
three-quarters of residents are over 65 years
old, but they show no interest in a resthome retirement. This is the top-ranked
segment for all-inclusive travel packages;
the favorite destination is Italy.
15 Pools & Patios
10 Second City Elite
There's money to be found in the nation's
smaller cities, and you're most likely to find
it in Second City Elite. The residents of
these satellite cities tend to be prosperous
executives who decorate their $200,000
homes with multiple computers, largescreen TV sets and an impressive collection
of wines. With more than half holding
college degrees, Second City Elite residents
enjoy cultural activities-from reading books
to attending theater to dance productions.
21
Formed during the postwar Baby Boom,
Pools & Patios has evolved from a segment
of young suburban families to one for
mature, empty-nesting couples. In these
stable neighborhoods graced with backyard
pools and patios-the highest proportion of
homes were built in the 1960s-residents
work as white-collar managers and
professionals, and are now at the top of
their careers.
16 Bohemian Mix
A collection of young, mobile urbanites,
Bohemian Mix represents the nation's most
liberal lifestyles. Its residents are a
progressive mix of young singles and
couples, students and professionals,
Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans and
whites. In their funky rowhouses and
apartments, Bohemian Mixers are the early
adopters who are quick to check out the
latest movie, nightclub, laptop and
microbrew.
17 Beltway Boomers
The members of the postwar Baby Boom
are all grown up. Today, these Americans
are in their forties and fifties, and one
segment of this huge cohort-collegeeducated, upper-middle-class and homeowning-is found in Beltway Boomers. Like
many of their peers who married late, these
Boomers are still raising children in
comfortable suburban subdivisions, and
they're pursuing kid-centered lifestyles.
18 Kids & Cul-de-Sacs
Upscale, suburban, married couples with
children-that's the skinny on Kids & Culde-Sacs, an enviable lifestyle of large
families in recently built subdivisions. With
a high rate of Hispanic and Asian
Americans, this segment is a refuge for
college-educated, white-collar professionals
with administrative jobs and upper-middleclass incomes. Their nexus of education,
affluence and children translates into large
outlays for child-centered products and
services.
19 Home Sweet Home
Widely scattered across the nation's
suburbs, the residents of Home Sweet
Home tend to be upper-middle-class
married couples living in mid-sized homes
with few children. The adults in the
segment, mostly between the ages of 25 and
54, have gone to college and hold
professional and white-collar jobs. With
their upscale incomes and small families,
these folks have fashioned comfortable
lifestyles, filling their homes with toys, TV
sets and pets.
20 Fast-Track Families
With their upper-middle-class incomes,
numerous children and spacious homes,
Fast-Track Families are in their prime
acquisition years. These middle-aged
parents have the disposable income and
educated sensibility to want the best for
their children. They buy the latest
technology with impunity: new computers,
DVD players, home theater systems and
video games. They take advantage of their
rustic locales by camping, boating and
fishing.
PRIZMNE Segments
21 Gray Power
The steady rise of older, healthier
Americans over the past decade has
produced one important by-product:
middle-class, home-owning suburbanites
who are aging in place rather than moving
to retirement communities. Gray Power
reflects this trend, a segment of older,
midscale singles and couples who live in
quiet comfort.
22 Young Influentials
Once known as the home of the nation's
yuppies, Young Influentials reflects the
fading glow of acquisitive yuppiedom.
Today, the segment is a common address
for young, middle-class singles and couples
who are more preoccupied with balancing
work and leisure pursuits. Having recently
left college dorms, they now live in
apartment complexes surrounded by ball
fields, health clubs and casual-dining
restaurants.
23 Greenbelt Sports
A segment of middle-class exurban couples,
Greenbelt Sports is known for its active
lifestyle. Most of these middle-aged
residents are married, college-educated and
own new homes; about a third have
children. And few segments have higher
rates for pursuing outdoor activities such as
skiing, canoeing, backpacking, boating and
mountain biking.
24 Up-and-Comers
Up-and-Comers is a stopover for young,
midscale singles before they marry, have
families and establish more deskbound
lifestyles. Found in second-tier cities, these
mobile, twentysomethings include a
disproportionate number of recent college
graduates who are into athletic activities,
the latest technology and nightlife
entertainment.
25 Country Casuals
There's a laid-back atmosphere in Country
Casuals, a collection of middle-aged, uppermiddle-class households that have started to
empty-nest. Workers here-and most
households boast two earners-have wellpaying blue- or white collar jobs, or own
small businesses. Today these Baby-Boom
couples have the disposable income to
enjoy traveling, owning timeshares and
going out to eat.
26 The Cosmopolitans
Educated, midscale and multi-ethnic, The
Cosmopolitans are urbane couples in
America's fast-growing cities. Concentrated
in a handful of metros-such as Las Vegas,
Miami and Albuquerque-these households
feature older home-owners, empty-nesters
and college graduates. A vibrant social
scene surrounds their older homes and
apartments, and residents love the nightlife
and enjoy leisure-intensive lifestyles.
27 Middleburg Managers
33 Big Sky Families
Middleburg Managers arose when emptynesters settled in satellite communities
which offered a lower cost of living and
more relaxed pace. Today, segment
residents tend to be middle-class and over
55 years old, with solid managerial jobs and
comfortable retirements. In their older
homes, they enjoy reading, playing musical
instruments, indoor gardening and
refinishing furniture.
28 Traditional Times
Traditional Times is the kind of lifestyle
where small-town couples nearing
retirement are beginning to enjoy their first
empty-nest years. Typically in their fifties
and sixties, these middle-class Americans
pursue a kind of granola-and-grits lifestyle.
On their coffee tables are magazines with
titles ranging from Country Living and
Country Home to Gourmet and Forbes. But
they're big travelers, especially in
recreational vehicles and campers.
Scattered in placid towns across the
American heartland, Big Sky Families is a
segment of young rural families who have
turned high school educations and bluecollar jobs into busy, middle-class
lifestyles. Residents like to play baseball,
basketball and volleyball, besides going
fishing, hunting and horseback riding. To
entertain their sprawling families, they buy
virtually every piece of sporting equipment
on the market.
34 White Picket Fences
Midpoint on the socioeconomic ladder,
residents in White Picket Fences look a lot
like the stereotypical American household
of a generation ago: young, middle-class,
married with children. But the current
version is characterized by modest homes
and ethnic diversity-including a
disproportionate number of Hispanics and
African-Americans.
35 Boomtown Singles
29 American Dreams
American Dreams is a living example of
how ethnically diverse the nation has
become: more than half the residents are
Hispanic, Asian or African-American. In
these multilingual neighborhoods-one in ten
speaks a language other than Englishmiddle-aged immigrants and their children
live in middle-class comfort.
Affordable housing, abundant entry-level
jobs and a thriving singles scene-all have
given rise to the Boomtown Singles
segment in fast-growing satellite cities.
Young, single and working-class, these
residents pursue active lifestyles amid
sprawling apartment complexes, bars,
convenience stores and laundromats.
36 Blue-Chip Blues
30 Suburban Sprawl
Suburban Sprawl is an unusual American
lifestyle: a collection of midscale, middleaged singles and couples living in the heart
of suburbia. Typically members of the Baby
Boom generation, they hold decent jobs,
own older homes and condos, and pursue
cocooning versions of the American Dream.
Among their favorite activities are jogging
on treadmills, playing trivia games and
renting videos.
31 Urban Achievers
Concentrated in the nation's port cities,
Urban Achievers is often the first stop for
up-and-coming immigrants from Asia,
South America and Europe. These young
singles and couples are typically collegeeducated and ethnically diverse: about a
third are foreign-born, and even more speak
a language other than English.
32 New Homesteaders
Blue-Chip Blues is known as a comfortable
lifestyle for young, sprawling families with
well-paying blue-collar jobs. Ethnically
diverse-with a significant presence of
Hispanics and African-Americans-the
segment's aging neighborhoods feature
compact, modestly priced homes
surrounded by commercial centers that cater
to child-filled households.
22
Domestic Duos represents a middle-class
mix of mainly over 55 singles and married
couples living in older suburban homes.
With their high-school educations and fixed
incomes, segment residents maintain an
easy-going lifestyle. Residents like to
socialize by going bowling, seeing a play,
meeting at the local fraternal order or going
out to eat.
40 Close-In Couples
Close-In Couples is a group of
predominantly older, African-American
couples living in older homes in the urban
neighborhoods of mid-sized metros. High
school educated and empty nesting, these
55-year-old-plus residents typically live in
older city neighborhoods, enjoying secure
and comfortable retirements.
41 Sunset City Blues
Scattered throughout the older
neighborhoods of small cities, Sunset City
Blues is a segment of lower-middle-class
singles and couples who have retired or are
getting closed to it. These empty-nesters
tend to own their homes but have modest
educations and incomes. They maintain a
low-key lifestyle filled with newspapers
and television by day, and family-style
restaurants at night.
42 Red, White & Blues
The residents of Red, White & Blues
typically live in exurban towns rapidly
morphing into bedroom suburbs. Their
streets feature new fast-food restaurants,
and locals have recently celebrated the
arrival of chains like Wal-Mart, Radio
Shack and Payless Shoes. Middle-aged,
high school educated and lower-middle
class, these folks tend to have solid, bluecollar jobs in manufacturing, milling and
construction.
37 Mayberry-ville
Like the old Andy Griffith show set in a
quaint picturesque berg, Mayberry-ville
harks back to an old-fashioned way of life.
In these small towns, middle-class couples
and families like to fish and hunt during the
day, and stay home and watch TV at night.
With lucrative blue-collar jobs and
moderately priced housing, residents use
their discretionary cash to purchase boats,
campers, motorcycles and pickup trucks.
38 Simple Pleasures
Young, middle-class families seeking to
escape suburban sprawl find refuge in New
Homesteaders, a collection of small rustic
townships filled with new ranches and Cape
Cods. With decent-paying jobs in whitecollar and service industries, these dualincome couples have fashioned
comfortable, child-centered lifestyles, their
driveways filled with campers and
powerboats, their family rooms with
PlayStations and Game Boys.
39 Domestic Duos
With more than two-thirds of its residents
over 65 years old, Simple Pleasures is
mostly a retirement lifestyle: a
neighborhood of lower-middle-class singles
and couples living in modestly priced
homes. Many are high school-educated
seniors who held blue-collar jobs before
their retirement. And a disproportionate
number served in the military; no segment
has more members of veterans clubs.
43 Heartlanders
America was once a land of small middleclass towns, which can still be found today
among Heartlanders. This widespread
segment consists of middle-aged couples
with working-class jobs living in sturdy,
unpretentious homes. In these communities
of small families and empty-nesting
couples, Heartlanders pursue a rustic
lifestyle where hunting and fishing remain
prime leisure activities along with cooking,
sewing, camping and boating.
44 New Beginnings
Filled with young, single adults, New
Beginnings is a magnet for adults in
transition. Many of its residents are
twentysomething singles and couples just
starting out on their career paths-or starting
over after recent divorces or company
transfers. Ethnically diverse-with nearly
half its residents Hispanic, Asian or
African-American-New Beginnings
households tend to have the modest living
standards typical of transient apartment
dwellers.
PRIZMNE Segments
45 Blue Highways
On maps, blue highways are often two-lane
roads that wind through remote stretches of
the American landscape. Among lifestyles,
Blue Highways is the standout for lowermiddle-class couples and families who live
in isolated towns and farmsteads. Here,
Boomer men like to hunt and fish, the
women enjoy sewing and crafts, and
everyone looks forward to going out to a
country music concert.
46 Old Glories
Old Glories are the nation's downscale
suburban retirees, Americans aging in place
in older apartment complexes. These
racially mixed households often contain
widows and widowers living on fixed
incomes, and they tend to lead homecentered lifestyles. They're among the
nation's most ardent television fans,
watching game shows, soaps, talk shows
and newsmagazines at high rates.
47 City Startups
In City Startups, young, multi-ethnic
singles have settled in neighborhoods filled
with cheap apartments and a commercial
base of cafes, bars, laundromats and clubs
that cater to twentysomethings. One of the
youngest segments in America-with ten
times as many college students as the
national average-these neighborhoods
feature low incomes and high
concentrations of Hispanics and AfricanAmericans.
48 Young & Rustic
Like the soap opera that inspired its
nickname, Young & Rustic is composed of
young, restless singles. Unlike the glitzy
soap denizens, however, these folks tend to
be lower income, high school-educated and
living in tiny apartments in the nation's
exurban towns. With their service industry
jobs and modest incomes, these folks still
try to fashion fast-paced lifestyles centered
on sports, cars and dating.
49 American Classics
They may be older, lower-middle class and
retired, but the residents of American
Classics are still living the American Dream
of home ownership. Few segments rank
higher in their percentage of home owners,
and that fact alone reflects a more
comfortable lifestyle for these
predominantly white singles and couples
with deep ties to their neighborhoods.
50 Kid Country, USA
Widely scattered throughout the nation's
heartland, Kid Country, USA is a segment
dominated by large families living in small
towns. Predominantly white, with an aboveaverage concentration of Hispanics, these
young, these working-class households
include homeowners, renters and military
personnel living in base housing; about 20
percent of residents own mobile homes.
57 Old Milltowns
51 Shotguns & Pickups
The segment known as Shotguns & Pickups
came by its moniker honestly: it scores near
the top of all lifestyles for owning hunting
rifles and pickup trucks. These Americans
tend to be young, working-class couples
with large families-more than half have two
or more kids-living in small homes and
manufactured housing. Nearly a third of
residents live in mobile homes, more than
anywhere else in the nation.
America's once-thriving mining and
manufacturing towns have aged-as have the
residents in Old Milltowns communities.
Today, the majority of residents are retired
singles and couples, living on downscale
incomes in pre-1960 homes and apartments.
For leisure, they enjoy gardening, sewing,
socializing at veterans clubs or eating out at
casual restaurants.
58 Back Country Folks
52 Suburban Pioneers
Suburban Pioneers represents one of the
nation's eclectic lifestyles, a mix of young
singles, recently divorced and single parents
who have moved into older, inner-ring
suburbs. They live in aging homes and
garden-style apartment buildings, where the
jobs are blue-collar and the money is tight.
But what unites these residents-a diverse
mix of whites, Hispanics and AfricanAmericans-is a working-class sensibility
and an appreciation for their off-the-beatentrack neighborhoods.
53 Mobility Blues
Young singles and single parents make their
way to Mobility Blues, a segment of
working-class neighborhoods in America's
satellite cities. Racially mixed and under 25
years old, these transient Americans tend to
have modest lifestyles due to their lowerincome blue-collar jobs. Surveys show they
excel in going to movies, playing basketball
and shooting pool
54 Multi-Culti Mosaic
An immigrant gateway community, MultiCulti Mosaic is the urban home for a mixed
populace of younger Hispanic, Asian and
African-American singles and families.
With nearly a quarter of the residents
foreign born, this segment is a mecca for
first-generation Americans who are striving
to improve their lower-middle-class status.
55 Golden Ponds
Golden Ponds is mostly a retirement
lifestyle, dominated by downscale singles
and couples over 65 years old. Found in
small bucolic towns around the country,
these high school-educated seniors live in
small apartments on less than $25,000 a
year; one in five resides in a nursing home.
For these elderly residents, daily life is
often a succession of sedentary activities
such as reading, watching TV, playing
bingo and doing craft projects.
56 Crossroads Villagers
With a population of middle-aged, bluecollar couples and families, Crossroads
Villagers is a classic rural lifestyle.
Residents are high school-educated, with
lower-middle incomes and modest housing;
one-quarter live in mobile homes. And
there's an air of self-reliance in these
households as Crossroads Villagers help put
food on the table through fishing, gardening
and hunting.
23
Strewn among remote farm communities
across the nation, Back Country Folks are a
long way away from economic paradise.
The residents tend to be poor, over 55 years
old and living in older, modest-sized homes
and manufactured housing. Typically, life
in this segment is a throwback to an earlier
era when farming dominated the American
landscape.
59 Urban Elders
For Urban Elders-a segment located in the
downtown neighborhoods of such metros as
New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Miamilife is often an economic struggle. These
communities have high concentrations of
Hispanics and African-Americans, and tend
to be downscale, with singles living in older
apartment rentals.
60 Park Bench Seniors
Park Bench Seniors typically are retired
singles living in the racially mixed
neighborhoods of the nation's satellite
cities. With modest educations and
incomes, these residents maintain low-key,
sedentary lifestyles. Theirs is one of the
top-ranked segments for TV viewing,
especially daytime soaps and game shows.
61 City Roots
Found in urban neighborhoods, City Roots
is a segment of lower-income retirees,
typically living in older homes and
duplexes they've owned for years. In these
ethnically diverse neighborhoods-more than
a third are African-American and Hispanicresidents are often widows and widowers
living on fixed incomes and maintaining
low-key lifestyles.
62 Hometown Retired
With three-quarters of all residents over 65
years old, Hometown Retired is one of the
oldest lifestyles. These racially mixed
seniors tend to live in aging homes-half
were built before 1958-and typically get by
on social security and modest pensions.
Because most never made it beyond high
school and spent their working lives at
blue-collar jobs, their retirements are
extremely modest.
63 Family Thrifts
The small-city cousins of inner-city
districts, Family Thrifts contain young,
ethnically diverse parents who have lots of
children and work entry-level service jobs.
In these apartment-filled neighborhoods,
visitors find the streets jam-packed with
babies and toddlers, tricycles and basketball
hoops, Daewoos and Hyundais.
64 Bedrock America
Bedrock America consists of young,
economically challenged families in small,
isolated towns located throughout the
nation's heartland. With modest educations,
sprawling families and blue-collar jobs,
many of these residents struggle to make
ends meet. One quarter live in mobile
homes. One in three haven't finished high
school. Rich in scenery, Bedrock America
is a haven for fishing, hunting, hiking and
camping.
65 Big City Blues
With a population that's 50 percent Latino,
Big City Blues has the highest
concentration of Hispanic Americans in the
nation. But it's also the multi-ethnic address
for downscale Asian and African-American
households occupying older inner-city
apartments. Concentrated in a handful of
major metros, these young singles and
single-parent families face enormous
challenges: low incomes, uncertain jobs and
modest educations. More than 40 percent
haven't finished high school.
66 Low-Rise Living
The most economically challenged urban
segment, Low-Rise Living is known as a
transient world for young, ethnically
diverse singles and single parents. Home
values are low-about half the national
average-and even then less than a quarter of
residents can afford to own real estate.
Typically, the commercial base of Momand-Pop stores is struggling and in need of
a renaissance.